Olympics-China says won't submit to pressure

January 30, 2008

(Adds Foreign Ministry comment, paragraphs 6-7)

BEIJING, Tue 29 Jan 2008 (Reuters) - China will never submit to taunting
or political pressure from groups or governments wishing to use the
Beijing Olympics to change Chinese policy, a leading state-run newspaper
said on Tuesday.

Activists around the globe are seizing on this year's Olympics to
pressure Beijing on a range of issues, from freedom of religion to
Taiwan and Tibet.

Actress Mia Farrow has been leading a global campaign for China to
change its policies in Sudan, whose government Beijing sells weapons to
and buys oil from.

"As the Beijing Olympics have become a popular talking point around the
world, some who look at the Chinese people with tinted spectacles have
created a sort of baffling 'excitement'," Communist Party mouthpiece the
People's Daily said in a strongly worded opinion piece.

"They believe they can exert enough pressure on the Chinese government
to force China into a situation where it cannot but do their bidding,"
it said. "These people have made the wrong calculation."

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said China's progress in
protecting the rights and freedoms of its citizens should be recognised
and echoed the commentary's position that the Olympics should not be
politicised.

"We believe the international community should oppose acts disrupting
the Olympic Games," Jiang told a regular news conference.

Foreign groups and governments would be especially mistaken to think
that Beijing would give ground on Taiwan, the self-ruled island China
regards as part of its territory, the commentary added.

"There is no country in the world hosting an Olympics which would
compromise on their own core interests," it said.

China was open to criticism, and had taken its share of taunts and
"harsh nit-picking", but the world will never forgive those who drag the
Games into the miasma of politics, the newspaper added.

"At the same time as hurting the feelings of 1.3 billion Chinese, they
are also dragging the Olympics into the whirlpool of politicisation," it
said.

"If at each subsequent Olympics people stand up and use politics to
maliciously attack the host nation, and use ideology to draw up
boycotts, where does that leave the Olympic spirit?" the newspaper added.

"The more abundant their activities, the more they show their true face,
which is to bring disgrace on the Olympic spirit." (Additional reporting
by Lindsay Beck; Editing by Alex Richardson)